unequal

I'm not sure if you have noticed how many more pictures of the girls than Morgan there are on this ol' blog lately, but I have. And while life is never equal or fair and I think it is ok to let kids learn that early on, I try my best to keep things equal as much as I can for the sake of recording each of the kids lives. But frankly, I just don't have as many pictures of the little man...and this is why

Every time I flip that little camera switch to on, his little stinker radar picks it up and immediately he starts scowling or trying to crash whatever toy he is playing with into my camera lens (see above). Ah well, love him anyway (and if people make obnoxious faces for my camera, they deserve to have them blogged, right?)!

Las Begas

My kids think that "Las Begas" (as Brynn says it) is the coolest place on earth. I can't say that I concur, but I think it is so wonderful that they had so much fun on our little family vacation! I think their love of Las Vegas has a lot to do with the grandeur of everything. Even Brynn was talking about the princess castle (the Excalibur) and the water (the Bellagio) and the M&M's (the M&M factory) and the sinking pirate ship (The pirate show at Treasure Island...p.s. that is not really a kid friendly show, unless you want your kids to be interested in pole dancing) for days after we got home. But I really think it was mostly due to this...

Fun hotel + Amazing Beach Entry Pool + warm sunshine + time with Daddy =

HAPPY KIDDOS

It was truly magical to spend so much time together playing, even if I did look like a beached whale in my maternity swimsuit. I was a major camera slacker since Seth was in his conference most of the days and I was on my own with the kids, but I do have a few more pictures. Hopefully I will get around to editing/posting them soon!

toothless

I know, I know! I abandon this poor little blog for weeks at a time and then all of a sudden you get a whole bunch of posts with pictures at once! That is pretty much the nature of our life right now...everything all at once!

Last night, while Morgan was dreaming about the Easter Bunny hopping his way to our house and leaving a basket of goodies, he somehow lost his very first tooth! He came bouncing into our room this morning, baby tooth in hand and hole in mouth,

"My wiggly tooth came out while I was sleeping!"

As soon as I acknowledged it he wanted to go directly back down to his room and write a note for the tooth fairy to put with his tooth. After watching the Super Why episode about the tooth fairy, he has been determined to have the tooth fairy leave his tooth instead of taking it, so he wrote her a note:

Toth Fere I wont to cep my toth (translation: Tooth Fairy, I want to keep my tooth)

The Hole: that permanent tooth is already poking out to say hello.

 Even with a hole in his mouth, this kid is still pretty darn cute...and $5 + a baby tooth richer 

(the tooth fairy only leaves that much for the first tooth...setting tooth fairy rates is complicated)!

P.S. Oh, how much I am LOVING the sun! I am finally feeling inspired to pull out the camera and capture our lives again now that there is light streaming through the windows most days! My lack of pictures with previous posts was not due to laziness, just due to the fact that I have been lucky to pull out the camera once a week around the house because it has been so so dark!

Morgan is 6!

Earlier this week Morgan had a birthday and we have been celebrating like crazy!

Sunday we had all of the family over for a birthday party. He got lots of fun loot and was so thrilled just to spend time with everyone. Thanks to all of you for loving our little man to pieces and being a part of his life! I feel like I have to pick a job: party hostess or photographer because whenever we host parties I completely slack off in the picture department, but here is a picture of him sporting the awesome glasses and fire hat from Uncle Michael and Sarah...they also gave him a whoopie cushion which has provided many many hours of uncontrollable laughter!

Monday we went out for family dinner at the Olive Garden - per Morgan's request. Tuesday we all went out to lunch and then Morgan went on his "Daddy Date" to Nickelcade. Thursday...the BIG day we opened presents....

Went to lunch with Grandma at the Carl's Jr. with a playplace a.k.a. "the place with the fast slide"

 where she gave him baseball gear. Those of you who know me well, probably know that I am NOT a big baseball fan. I don't have anything against the sport, but growing up, I went to so many of my little brothers' baseball games that I have already maxed out the number of baseball games I am willing to sit through. He is excited to learn how to play and I am hopeful that he will just enjoy some casual play with uncle Stephen and not want to join a team. :)

And then we ended the night eating grilled cheese sandwiches and watching a movie.

We went on our Mommy date on Friday afternoon...we don't usually do a mommy date, but he specifically requested to go to Old Navy with just mom so he could play the light game (projected interactive game on the floor in the kids section) and pick out an Easter Outfit...and what momma can say no to that? Then he got to have a sleepover at Grandpa's house Friday night and last night he lost his very first tooth (pictures to come)!

He sure knows how to ring in 6 years old with a bang!

There are so many wonderful things about Morgan! He is a peacemaker, a silly boy, best friends with his daddy, best buddies with his sisters, he is my biggest helper, has the silliest most contagious giggle, he loves to play and learn new things. He especially loves school and is quite the little reader! His Kindergarten teacher says that he always keeps the class laughing (in a non-disruptive kind of way) and likes to be as creative as possible with his math journal so that she will show it to the class every day. He always wants to do all of his homework for the week on Monday when he brings his homework folder home...not to get it done, but because he loves doing it. He is easy going and very loving, but lately he has gotten to be more sensitive about things that make him sad. He is so friendly to everyone he meets and is kind and caring with his friends. He has so much faith and I am always certain that his prayers get first priority in heaven because they are always answered! I am so glad he has started praying for sunshine instead of snow! :) He loves his aunts and uncles and grandparents so much and is always excited to spend time with them. He loves going for rides on Uncle Stephen's motorcycle and playing computer with Uncle Stinky. He is excited about a new adventure and a new house and especially about a new baby sister to love. He often gives me a big hug around the waist and kisses my belly so that it will pass along to baby sis. He loves to build things (lincoln logs, legos, tinker toys), play superheros, dress up, and ride bikes and especially loves to read books with Mom and Dad and his sisters. He also loves to play "mom and dad" - or what we used to call house when I was little. The one advantage to having all these sisters is that I know that he is going to make some girl very very happy one day, just by seeing how sweet he is with his sisters. Morgan is very independent and does so many things on his own...I am wondering what I will do without him when he is gone all day for 1st grade! I feel truly blessed to be his mom and am excited to see what the coming years will bring for him!

Happy Birthday little man! Thanks for making me a mommy! The 6 years that you have been a part of our lives have been a greater blessing than we could have ever imagined!

xoxoxo, 

Mom

pictures, exhuastion, and lots of love

Motherhood is an interesting thing. I am always amazed that the very little people who wear me out day after day after day are the same little people who make my life so very very happy. And since these little people make me so happy, I am sharing a little bit of their sweetness with you!

Enjoy!

At our friend's annual easter egg hunt...

she was pretty pumped about finding eggs and putting them in her basket.

she was more excited about how beautiful the eggs were

and he was mostly excited about gathering the loot and then checking it out!

um...she is waaay too cute for her own good!

Dancing in the living room...a favorite pasttime!

Brynn looks up to her big sister soooo much.
She wants to be just like her in every way!

Pure adoration!

remember...

I am a super slacker to post this stuff without pictures, but I know by the time I take the pictures and remember to post them, I will already have forgotten. So, I give you a bunch of random stuff I want to remember:

- I did Chloe's hair in big wavy curls today with a cute little fabric flower bow. She looked way too grown up. Every time I thought to take a picture she had chocolate ice cream or yogurt or macaroni and cheese on her face, so I didn't, and I am not sure I am ready to recreate it because I don't think I can handle another day of her looking so grown up. She was absolutely beautiful, though, and she knew it. All day she walked around telling everyone that she had pretty curly hair that her mommy gave her. It made my day that she was so happy about something I did for her.

- Brynn sucks her thumb. Not only that, but she loves stuffed animals. She loves to suck the noses of her stuffed animals. Every.single.time she picks up a stuffed animal (even off the shelves at the store if I don't catch her fast enough) she immediately opens her mouth and inserts the nose of the stuffed animal in it. You can tell her favorite stuffed animals by the wear on their noses. And, while it kind of drives me crazy, it is a sweet reminder that she is my baby and I know I will miss it when she gets big enough to stop.

- Morgan is reading like a champ! I love finding him sitting with a book and hearing him sounding out the words to himself, just because, or writing random lists of things and stories. I can take absolutely no credit for his active little brain and love of learning, because I don't do nearly as much as I should with him at home, but I love how much he loves learning. (I guess I can take credit for choosing the perfect school for his needs and driving him there every morning...that's a contribution, right?)

- I am 26 weeks along. That means I am entering my 3rd trimester...ummm, that happened REALLY fast! I saw the picture I posted a few weeks ago and coveted my own body. I am getting bigger every second, it seems, and all the wonderful stuff that accompanies the "huge" stage are appearing/continuing: daily heartburn, sciatic nerve pain, lack of breath, tossing and turning at night because I can't get comfortable, constant need to pee, fatigue and expansion of my legs, hips and bum. I keep reminding myself that I will eventually get back to my skinny body that can roll around on the floor and carry kids around and stand up without pain and something to hold onto, but it takes a lot of reassuring for my vanity to believe it.

- They are coming to measure for carpet this week. I can hardly believe we are this close, but I am so excited! We looked at carpet until I couldn't even tell the difference between the colors anymore (or maybe I just got so sick of it that I didn't care?), but I am excited to leave the next homeowners with something much better that what we have lived with for the past 6 1/2 years. All that is left is paint touch up inside, paint touch up outside, packing lots of stuff into a storage pod and some deep cleaning and we will be listing!

- Seth finished his rotations at the U of U ER. It was a really long 8 weeks of 7 days a week most weeks. The shifts were always longer than planned and it was extremely taxing on our family, but the next (and final) rotation is office hours 3 days a week, so he will only work 6 shifts a week (3 8 hour clinicals, and 3 12 hour work shifts). Crazy to think that I am excited about that being a "break", but oh...I am excited for the break!

- I cleaned out my fabric stash and now have a couple of large cuts of fabric that I would like to sell and some smaller cuts that I need to donate somewhere. Anyone know where to sell or donate fabric? Also...why do I buy so much fabric? must.stop.doing.that!

- I thought we had come to terms with forgoing loan repayment and staying in Salt Lake (because I really would prefer to just stay here and not venture into the scary unknown). But, in the best interest of our family and getting out of student debt sooner than later, I have been persuaded to consider out-of-state opportunities (Seth is very happy about this!). While it is still scary, I am growing fond of the idea of a new adventure for a few years. We will begin applying to positions this week. It will be nice to have some kind of plan and direction instead of being in complete limbo. If you have positive thoughts on moving outside of Salt Lake, please feel free to reassure me. My emotional state is like a rollercoaster and I can use all the positive energy around moving away that I can get! If you have negative thoughts...maybe it would be best not to share them right now. A few of the places we are applying: Portland, Seattle, California (a couple of places), Moab and Hawaii...Hawaii is a very long shot logistically, but we will apply and see what happens, and if we end up there, you all better come and visit us!

- I still love pinterest.

The 100th day of school

A couple of weeks ago marked the 100th day of school for the year and Morgan's Kindergarten class celebrated in style! They had to take a jar with 100 secret things and everyone had to guess what was in the jars. Morgan took popcorn kernels. They did lots of activities, crafts and games involving the number 100. And most exciting of all, they got to dress up like they were 100 years old! I am a lam-o mom and didn't plan for the dressing up much, but we floured his hair and combed it over with gel and he wore his most "old person" outfit and I painted some wrinkles onto his face. He looked really old from far away, but kind of funny up close. I think he is under the impression that old people are grumpy because when I said, "make your 100 year old face" this is what I got...

 

Oh, how I love this kid!

pandora's box

Today, I picked Morgan up from school and as we were leaving the parking lot, my phone rang. I missed the call, but when I saw that it was Seth, I called right back...until I realized that I was Seth at our home number. Um, last time I checked, nobody was at home. Turns out it was Morgan calling me from the backseat from the home (cell) phone which he had taken with him to school. A few things followed...

1. I laughed...really hard.

2. I tried to compose myself...unsuccessfully...and laughed some more.

3. Finally got a grip and told Morgan that he is NEVER ever EVER allowed to take the home phone to school. The reason it is called a home phone is because it is supposed to stay at home. Clever, right?

4. Asked him if the phone rang while he was at school...thankfully it didn't, but he 

told me that his teacher said that the rule about phones is they can't go out to recess.

5. Realized that this meant his teacher had seen the phone...and then turned beet red thinking that 

now she thinks I am the kind of parent that gives my child a cell phone in Kindergarten.

6. Started composing the email in  my head that I would have to send to her explaining (and apologizing).

7. Call Seth and tell him how hilarious our children are.

Hope you had a good laugh...I need to go type the email to his teacher...

random thoughts at 23 weeks

Monday will mark 23 weeks in my pregnancy...more than halfway!

I am not sure what is so different this time around, but the whole thing just doesn't seem real to me.

Yes...I feel giant and have to wear maternity clothes. 

Yes...It is super uncomfortable to sleep and I wake up at least 10 times a night to reposition.

Yes...the sight/feel/smell of raw meat makes me gag.

Yes...I have crazy bad heartburn every.single.night (could this be a sign of a baby girl with hair? hoping!)

And yes...my sciatic nerve is pinched and forces me to stand up while still bent over and then straighten incrementally from there (Seth laughs at me...I am sure I look like a 95 year old trying to stand up)

But...otherwise, I feel really great! I have energy and I feel productive most days.

I can eat just about anything (except meat that I touched when raw and Dr. Pepper).

I don't need to take naps every afternoon just to make it through the day.

I no longer feel inclined to go to bed at 8:30 pm (most nights anyway).

We have no idea what to name this baby girl...and that DOESN'T stress me out.

I am not tempted to buy adorable outfits for her when we are out and about.

I am not feeling stressed that we have no idea where we will be living when this baby gets here.

I don't worry that we are supposed to be listing our house in less than 2 months (although I probably should).

I am not overwhelmed at the idea of hauling 4 kids to Dr. appointments and soccer games and swimming lessons and dance classes (ok...maybe a little overwhelmed, but it isn't keeping me up at night).

Usually when I am pregnant this is not the case.

I have come to the conclusion that all of this is a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father. 

A reminder that my little family is being watched over and cared for and that whether I worry or not, 

it will all work out...and more importantly, that His plan is better than mine anyway! 

A reminder that this road we are on right now, though it is difficult, is the one that we should be on.

A reminder that the long days and the sacrifices are all worth it. 

A reminder that I don't need to know all the answers or understand the whole plan to continue on in faith.
A reminder that I am known to Him...and He wants me to be happy.

Today has been a hard day: kids fighting, Seth gone to work for what seems like the 20th day in a row with no end in sight, messes in every room of the house, feeling lonely and depleted and impatient, and wishing there were something I could do to get everyone out of the house, but not having the energy for an outing alone on a Saturday...and then, the sun (literally) came out from behind the clouds, my house went from gray and bleak to sunny and happy and I could walk outside without a jacket and not freeze...and I knew that it was all going to be ok. I took a deep breath, made some lunch, and we all went outside and rode bikes and enjoyed the fresh air for 30 minutes before the clouds came back and we started to shiver,
and it was just what we needed. 

I am so glad for reminders like these that give me the strength to carry on.

And now...if you made it through my ramblings...some randomness in the form of pictures.

self-portrait of my 23 week belly (taken yesterday)
I am about the same weight as my pre-pregnancy weight before Chloe. Weird.

Another self-portrait of my belly...from a different perspective...taken today


and the more exciting stuff...
kids playing in the fleeting February sunshine this afternoon












Footnotes:

1. Morgan and Chloe got the matching monkey rainboots for Christmas...
Brynn's size was not available...
they are obsessed and wear them almost every day!

2. Chloe's blue striped jacket is from Old Navy's clearance rack yesterday...
time will tell if she is obsessed, but I can definitely tell you that I am!

3. You may have noticed that most of us are sporting some shades of pink or red...
the Valentine's day countdown has begun!

4. While I completely ADORE my new zoom lens, I am officially getting lazy when I shoot.
I am used to running toward/away from the subject to get the shot I want, but twisting the zoom is so.much.easier! Sadly, there goes my plan to lose the baby weight! lol!

5. I have determined that sunshine makes people happy...look at those great big smiles on their faces!

6. Yes...that is my car INSIDE of our garage. Both Seth and I park in the garage! I never thought the day would come that we would have a garage we park in, but I am so glad it has! You may also notice the completely open driveway...we said goodbye to Seth's mercedes a few weeks ago.
A little sad, but a lot of happy (and a lot more room to play on days like today)!

telephone

Morgan has known our phone number (and by that I mean my cell phone number) for a long time now, 

but yesterday I decided it was time to actually teach him how to dial  the number and what to say 

when someone answers and all that fun little phone etiquette stuff. He is going to a birthday party 

for someone in his class whose parents I don't know well tonight, so the timing seemed appropriate. 

He is super excited, but I might send him with our home cell phone. Worry much?

(Speaking of which, what age do you all think is acceptable for sleepover birthday parties? I am a paranoid mom and I am not ready to let my 5 year old sleepover anywhere but grandma's house...am I crazy?)

So, I had him dial my phone number and hit the send key...and then he giggled like a crazy 

man when he heard my phone ring from across the room and I answered it. 

We practiced it a few more times...and every time he giggled like crazy. It was so fun! 

Then he called Grandma Becky and left a message....

"Hi Grandma, it's Morgan. I am learning how to call people on the phone. Okay, bye!"

And then he dialed Uncle Michael and chatted for a while. And then I made him give 

me the phone to make sure Uncle Michael knew that he was indeed being supervised.

And then he went in the living room and dialed my number again. 

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom, it's me, Morgan. Will you please give the phone to Chloe?"

"Sure!" I said as I handed the phone to Chloe.

"Hi," Chloe said, "This is Chloe...we are eating our dinner right now. My mommy made us tacos. I don't know what Dad is going to eat though. We are trying to figure that out." And then she moved the phone away from her ear and said to me, "Mom, who is this girl that I am talking to on the phone?"

Apparently our next life skill should be monitoring the information we share with strangers. 

This morning my phone rang. Who is calling me at 7:45 am while I am 

trying to get kids ready and out the door to school, I thought. 

Oh, right, it is Morgan...practicing. Thank goodness for free mobile to mobile calling!

Ice Skating

I have so much to update from Brynn's birthday, but since I haven't even looked through those pictures yet, I thought I would skip ahead a bit and get back to that later.

Morgan's kindergarten class went ice skating for their field trip yesterday. It was pretty funny to see all these little 5 and 6 year olds try to stay standing (mostly unsuccessfully) on the ice, 

but within a few minutes, Morgan had figured it out and was getting around the rink like a little pro.

I was extremely daring and brought my camera out onto the ice, pregnant belly and all...moving subject+moving shooter skating backwards=not the sharpest images, but it was so worth it to capture the determination on Morgan's cute little face!

 

He certainly spent a little bit of time like this...

But we sure had a lot of fun!

sweet sweet moments captured forever

I just posted a few pictures of my kiddos with their grandparents from a shoot I did with them, oh...last fall! 

I am a huge slacker, I know...even more so because I am just giving you the link to the post on my 

photography blog. Forgive me? And then go check out the pics because they are so very sweet!

http://smileabunchphotos.blogspot.com/2011/01/grandparents.html

the results are in...

Today we had our ultra sound and were so happy to hear that our little one is looking absolutely perfect! Size looks great...10 fingers, 10 toes, belly button, eyes, lips and nose. We couldn't be more thrilled!

We decided not to take the kiddos to the ultrasound (thanks for babysitting mom!) so promptly after picking Morgan up from his school short day, we had a little "movie afternoon". We popped some popcorn, snuggled up in front of the tv, and popped in the ultrasound dvd.

The kids were clearly a little bit excited to see the baby...

We saw

a sweet little face

tiny fingers trying to grab tiny toes

a little one all scrunched up with knees to chest

and...

no baby boy parts!

That's right people...we are in for

more pink,

more tutus,

more hair bows,

more flowers,

more dresses,

more tights,

more dress ups and barbies and littlest petshops,

more princesses,
more dancing,
more tiny polka dot shoes,
and more drama (heaven help us)!

We are so excited for another little lady who will undoubtedly
capture our heartsjust as instantly as her sisters have before her!

It took a little persuasion, but we have talked Morgan into keeping Chloe,
so you will have 2 big sisters to show you the ropes and a wonderfully awesome
big brother to balance out the estrogen and love you like crazy!

kisses and hugs my sweet!
We can't wait to meet you!

More Christmas Fun

Sleepover Under the Tree!

Hitting Grandma's piniata

Counting the Days

Finding Jessie in her sneaky hiding places every day!

Exploring ornaments on every tree she sees...this one is Grandma Becky's.

More to come...I have another card to upload.

party plans

I am in the midst of some serious party planning with 2 big parties this Friday and Saturday that I am in charge of and another one tomorrow that I am helping with. I, being the naive overambitious mother of my first Kindergartener, signed up to be the head room mom for Morgan's class. While most people seem to think that was a crazy thing to do, I (not-so) secretly LOVE it. I LOVE planning parties. Seriously...LOVE. If we had a bigger house and any free time, I would throw a lot more parties (feel free to hold me to that when we move...oh wait, free time was also a requirement)!

I found this crazy awesome idea online for a Polar Express party...and then the wheels started turning and about a half an hour later I had concocted a very cool party for Morgan's cute little class. I have been mentioning the planning process on facebook and had several requests for me to share the plans, so, I don't have the pictures yet and I can't tell you whether anything worked or didn't because the party hasn't happened, but I am sharing the plan in case it is helpful to anyone else out there who isn't as thrilled that they signed up to be the head room mom. ;)

Invitation:
- I sent home tickets with all the kids early this week. POLAR EXPRESS ADMIT ONE. They outlined the date and theme of the party and instructed the kids to wear their jammies to school that day and to bring their ticket so they could board the train.

Set Up:
- We are setting the room up with all of the rectangle tables in a line like train cars. The chairs will all be facing forward

Party Schedule:
- Read The Polar Express book
- Play conductor says (a version of simon says)
- Make magic Reindeer food (add oatmeal, red and green sugar and birdseed to little baggies and add a tag...the kids will take these home to throw out on their lawns on Christmas Eve)
- Load Santa's Sleigh a.k.a. Musical Presents (their class has a Christmas Wishlist of supplies they need, so parents are bringing these individually wrapped. We will pass the presents around while the music plays and when the music stops whoever doesn't have a present gets to pick a present from the someone in the circle to load in Santa's sleigh -they are also out- it will continue until the last present is loaded and then the winner gets to take Santa's sleigh and deliver the gifts to the teacher's desk...basically like musical chairs)
- Sock Snowball fight (you fold/roll individual socks into a ball and the kids stand on either side of the room and have a snowball fight with the socks...yes we will tell them to throw nicely)
- TREATS (hot chocolate bar with all the fixins - peppermint sticks, marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, andes mint crumbles, etc - north pole cupcakes - vanilla cupcakes with white frosting and clear sugar sprinkles and a mini candy cane poking out the top like the north pole - donuts and chocolate chip cookies)

And that's it. Hopefully we will fit it all into our 1 hour time allotment. :) Anyway, I will post pics after the party!

photos found

On my little rampage from earlier today, I decided to continue my sorting

of pictures and just couldn't resist sharing a few gems...for no particular reason!

I can't get over how colorful the leaves were just a few short months ago!

Now all that we can see is a blanket of white!

Wonderful in a totally different way!

My attempt to document my presence in the life of the family...

camera on auto...focus on auto...unsteady hand...still priceless!

does this picture even need words?

I find such delight in knowing that these girls have each other for sisters!

catching up

Now that I am feeling a little more human

and a little less first-trimester-zombie,

I am catching up on things.

Things like...

cleaning my house,

decorating for Christmas,

buying the kids clothes that fit,

rotating summer clothes out of the drawers,

decluttering,

wrapping Christmas presents,

going through pictures,

updating the Project 365 blog!

What? There are updates on the Project 365 blog?

YES, friends! I have finally added some new pictures.

I am now more than halfway through September! Yay!

Today as I added each post to the blog, I got weepy.

Looking at each picture filled me with such emotion.

It is quite unbelievable to think that my little babies are literally growing up right before my eyes,

and yet, until I start looking back, I don't even realize how very quickly it is happening.

The tears flowed freely...partly because each image is so meaningful to me,

partly because of the pregnancy horromones,

and partly because I am so sad that I have not been

diligent in taking pictures every day since the beginning of October.

One could safely say that I have fallen off the wagon.

But I am feeling inspired today.

Inspired to capture those little pieces of life,

because they can't be recreated.

I must get them now or I will never get them back...not even the memory of them.

And I can't stand to lose a second of this sweet life while my babies are babies...

not a second of the tantrums, or the fights in the car,

not a second of the girls getting hard boiled eggs out of the fridge for a snack

only to crack them open and find that they weren't hard boiled after all,

not a second of kids going in to take naps only to hear them enacting some

grandeous storyline for an hour and a half behind their bedroom doors,

not a second of fighting over who gets to do which advent calendar today,

not a second of demanding the boots SHE wants to wear even if they

completely clash with her outfit (yes, all of this has happened in the last 2 days),

not a single second of this beautiful life!

Because in between these moments are the gems:

the sweet  mischevious faces 

and the sweet laughter,

the cuddles that come after time outs

and the delight when daddy gets home and little ones are still awake.

All of it is worth remembering, and loving, and crying about!

All of it is worth sharing and telling,
so I am making it a priority again.
Check out the project 365 blog for all of the pictures above and more,
and come back here soon for some of the more recent stuff,
like, oh, I don't know, how about Halloween...
or maybe we will just skip right to Christmas!

bed buddy

This morning a little blonde headed girl climbed into bed with me to snuggle and give me kisses...

and I just couldn't help but be happy happy happy.

It was a pretty normal morning - sounds of the man I love making breakfast in the kitchen,

(yep, that's normal lately - aren't you jealous - best husband ever) 

a little boy getting ready for school all on his own,

a little girl gabbing away in her almost-2-year-old language that only she really understands,

and the sound of my sweet middle baby girl saying, "I love you mommy."

"I love you too," I said, "will you just be my best buddy forever!"

"yeah, " she replied...and then she hurried off to the breakfast table

as she heard the sound of plates hitting the table.

But me, I just layed there, thinking about how much I love my sweet little family,

how grateful I am for the three sweet little spirits that Heavenly Father sent just to me,

and how happy we all are to meet #4 and learn all about another little personality and

another spirit and another piece of our family that we'll wonder how we ever lived without.

I hope that the 4 of them never get too old to still be best buddies with their mom

or snuggle into my bed to give me hugs and kisses.

I hope that Chloe always wants to tell me about every minute of her day.

I hope that Brynn will keep on needing kisses from Mom to overcome bumps on the head,

scrapes on the knee and all the other little things that hurt her feelings throughout the day.

I hope that Morgan still demands his 3 hugs and kiss before bed for a good long time to come. 

I am so glad to be their mommy, and since I know that these sweet moments probably won't

last forever (despite my wishes that they would), I am cherishing them right now,

and in 10 years when Chloe is 13 and awful (because all 13 year old girls are awful)

I will remind her that one morning, when she was 3, she climbed in my bed to snuggle and told me

that we could be best buddies forever. She'll surely roll her eyes and say "whatever"

(as only 13 year old girls can), but I'll keep loving her anyway, cause that's my job as her mommy.

a little better...

Woo Hoo! Feeling a little bit better this week than I was last. Still feeling yucky overall, but my naps are getting shorter and my food options are expanding a bit. I had a can of Dr. Pepper tonight and it didn't make me gag...so I consider that a major improvement...one can was as much as I could handle though.

Morgan is still being a good helper and we are having fun charting the progress of the baby. It is now the size of a pinto bean and the kids are pumped that it can bend its elbows and knees this week. Plus fingers and toes are starting to appear! Morgan can't wait to hear the heartbeat and see the ultrasound...it will be a long 10 weeks!

Seth's application for graduation is due MONDAY! I can't believe how real the end is seeming and how close it is! I have my fingers crossed that we survive the next 6 months...we'll be selling our house, finding a new place to live, finding a new job, getting ready for baby #4 and of course graduating (and all the work that comes with that!). But, we are looking forward with excitement and anticipation!

So, yeah, things are a little better this week and we arehoping it will keep getting better from here!

apple picking

i'm pretty happy with my little family...

tonight, when daddy got home, we headed out for some apple picking

he was all about picking apples.

she was all about filling that basket...bet happy to let dad do the picking.

sneaking an apple...look at that guilty face!

could she be more beautiful?

they ate about this many apples on the drive home

a momma's delight!

Then it was off to carl's jr...because the one in sandy has a playland

our dinner conversation went like this...

Morgan: "i want to keep my dad, but i want a different mom."

mom: "oh yeah? what kind of mom do you want?"

Morgan: "i want a mom with short hair."

mom: "i have short hair."

Morgan: "no, short hair like grandma becky's."

mom: "what else do you want in a new mom?"

Morgan: "she needs to have one brother and 2 sisters."

hmmm....which brother could I get rid of? anyone want to be my sister?